Beanhole Beans are a great Maine culinary tradition, legend has it that the Native tribes in Maine (who selected and improved our local beans over thousands of years of cultivation) taught the Europeans how to cook beans in holes dug into the ground. They would build a fire in the hole, make a huge bed of coals, put a pot of soaked beans on the coals, and cover it all up with earth. In a day’s time they’d come back and the coals would still be hot and the beans would be cooked. This ended up being a staple of the lumberjacks as they drove logs down the rivers to the mills out of the north woods. The cook would go a day ahead of the log drive and bury a pot of beans in the riverbank, and it would be ready for the riverdrivers when they arrived.

The extra layer of the song is this: as I understand it, when Molly Gawler and Lao Gillam got married a few years back, Lao decided to buy Molly a Bob Childs Fiddle as a wedding present. He told John all about it but told him not to tell anyone about it, and John said okay, we won’t spill the beans before the wedding. So he wrote this song as a reminder to himself not to spill the beans. Later, he made a big pot of beanhole beans for the wedding ceremony and everyone enjoyed ‘em.

This is one of my favorite examples of a new worksong. Here’s why:

It blends the classic call and response format that has evolved to work so well in labor situations with mixed crews… so anyone who doesn’t know the song can easily find their place in it.

Melody is simple and stepwise but bluesy, easy to catch but doesn’t get dull once you start playing.

Easy to find harmonies over a simple melody like that. But they can get gritty and dirty if you want it.

The format of a question “Do you like to” is great, very easy to improvise more questions because all you actually have to improvise is what you’re putting in the beans.

I created this song to help synchronize the oars as we we get going. Often when we first start out the rowers are all operating at slightly different rhythms. Over time I've discovered that a simple count works best to get everyone rowing in the same time signature. But instead of counting 123-456-78 I have them count 123-123-12 because the boat seems to row best in this slightly asymmetrical pattern: (Reach, Pull, Pause). "Reach Pull Pause" doesn't exactly roll of the tongue, so I improvised "Dip Pull Swing" which somehow does, and still gets the idea across. By the time this video was taken the words had evolved to "Dip Pull Way", which makes even less sense but was easier to sing and really got the whole crew going.

This is a technique I learned in Ghana from the singing fishermen there, who would start off songs with words but over the course of a morning of fishing would shift into singing vocables or sounds that rolled off the tongue easily and motived the group to keep working through the hardest of the net hauling. Works for rowing too, and is easier than keeping clever rhymes going...

Last night we had a great CRAFT tour of Sylvester Manor for 30 young farmers, followed by a potluck and a few worksongs. We discussed the ancient music that has been an integral part of farming culture- from field hollers to cow calling to apple tree wassails- a musical blessing of the apple trees.

Here's a nice video of the inimitable Rose Sheehan and the Newtowne Morris Men.

CHORUS:I like to rise when the sun she rises,early in the morningAnd I like to hear them small birds singing,Merrily upon the laylandAnd hurrah for the life of a country boy,And for ramblin' in the new mown hay.

In the spring we sow at the harvest mowAnd that is how the seasons round they gobut of all the times, if choose I may,I’d be rambling through the new mown hay.

CHORUS

In summer when the sun is hotWe sing, and we dance, and we drink a lotWe spend all night in sport and playAnd go rambling in the new mown hay

CHORUS

In autumn when the oak trees turnWe gather all the wood that’s fit to burnWe cut and stash and stow awayAnd go rambling in the new mown hay

CHORUS

In winter when the sky’s graywe hedge and ditch our times away,but in the summer when the sun shines gay,We go ramblin’ through the new mown hay.

Jody was sung by Benny Richardson in Ellis Unit, part of the Texas penitentiary system in Hendersonville, Texas in the 1960s. It was collected by Bruce Jackson and his scholarship matches the remarkable nature of the song itself.

There is a great video that includes Jody being sung by Benny Richardson here at folkstreams.net. The video, which was made by Pete and Toshi Seeger, includes a transcript that is useful for reading along as you watch the video.

Another important resource for Jody is "Wake Up Dead Man, Hard Labor and Southern Blues" by Bruce Jackson. In it he describes the epic nature of the song, which has a simple form, satisfying melody and and haiku-like lyrics that distill the prison experience

Lyrics

I've been working all day long,YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.Pickin' this stuff called cotton and corn,YEAH, YEAH, YEAH, YEAH.